Science in the Library

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Right now my library is working on a STEAM grant that we got for 2018, and one of my tasks to help the team is to gather up ideas for STEAM elements to be added to our rotating storyboxes. Storyboxes are bins that get sent weekly from one library branch to another, sharing books, DVDs, CDs, flannelboard sets, song lyrics and craft ideas around a theme. Librarians and techs use the materials in the boxes to put together their storytimes for the week. For 2018, we want our storyboxes to reflect our library's STEAM emphasis. So I'm working on finding ideas that librarians and tech specialists can use when putting their bins together.

Physics: Balloon Rockets
Just need a balloon, a straw, a string and some tape. Fill balloon with air, watch the force of air pushing out of the balloon cause the balloon to fly in the opposite direction. Shows Newton’s Third Law.
http://krokotak.com/2013/04/balloon-rocket/

Monday, August 21, 2017

On August 8th, we had a packed story room full of kids 7-12 years old who were here to learn about how electricity works, what kinds of materials conduct electricity, and how to make their own batteries. First, we viewed a slideshow that explained concepts like electric current (the movement of electrons from atom to atom) and the history behind the making of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta:

Then I gave everyone an envelope with some squares of matboard (like what artists use as the backing and framing for prints and drawings), an LED diode, and five pennies, two of which I sanded for each child in advance of the class. The kids had to sand two more pennies and leave the 5th penny alone, while letting the squares of matboard soak in some kind of solution.

Why sand the pennies? Because all pennies made after 1982 are made with mostly zinc and just a little bit of copper. Sand the copper off of one side, and you now have the two metals Volta used to make the first battery.

They could choose from several different solvents: baking soda (the best batteries had high baking soda content because of its high salt content), sugar (not as good), lemon juice, corn starch, Lawry's seasoned salt (not as salty as you might think), and other ingredients. By accident I left my bottle of vinegar; wish I had remembered it!

Why the salty solution? Because salt molecules help electrons to flow in a stronger current in water. Pure water (which doesn't exist) wouldn't conduct much electricity, but when those matboard squares are soaked in very salty water, the chemical foundation is there for a reaction to occur that will exchange electrons and make an electric current.

By sanding the pennies down on one side until their zinc centers showed, and stacking them with wet (but not drippy) matboard squares soaked in salty water, we were able to recreate Alessandro Volta's first battery, which he made from copper and zinc discs and cloth soaked in salty water, and generate enough electricity to light an LED.

Troubleshooting Tips

Trying this at home? Not everyone's batteries worked at our workshop, but here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Make sure you stack your pennies with the zinc side up, and top your pile with the unsanded penny (which has copper all around)

2. Make sure your pennies have been sanded all the way--you want your zinc side to have hardly a speck of copper left

3. Make sure the edges of your salty matboard squares are not touching. The battery's chemical electrical current can only be sustained if materials are alternating in the right order and not out of order, and not touching any other pieces.

4. Make sure your LED diode has the positive leg touching the top (unsanded penny) and the negative leg on the bottom. Both legs will be touching copper but the copper metals will be differently charged.

Sunday, August 20, 2017

At my last preschool storytime we did a Moon theme, because of the upcoming eclipse. I found a lot of great ideas from Johnson County Library. One of the cutest ideas they gave me turned out to be this activity acting out the solar system and singing about it. I caught it on video:

(tune: Farmer in the Dell)

The Earth turns around, the Earth turns around,
Once a day, every day, the Earth turns around.

The moon goes round the Earth, The moon goes round the Earth,
Once a month, every month,The moon goes round the Earth.

The Earth goes round the Sun, the Earth goes round the Sun,
Once a year, every year, The Earth goes round the Sun.

The stars are all around, The stars are all around,
Here to there, and everywhere, The stars are all around

My library is working on putting together at least 20 STEAM storytime themes and I can add this one to the mix. If your library has done any storytimes that have been really STEAM-related, please share!

Thursday, June 8, 2017

Coming up on Tuesday, June 13th from 2-3:30 pm, the Pasadena Public Library will have our next Tablets and Tech program at the Central Library on our 4th floor. Kids will move around different iPad stations exploring a wide range of apps that incorporate accessories for tangible play. Kids will be using the passport below to assist them in taking turns to explore each app.

Many of the apps have educational benefits for kids. Here I want to share the ones that focus especially on coding.

Osmo Game Systems use a mirror placed over the iPad’s camera to direct the iPad to process anything you do in front of it.

Osmo Coding:

Awby, a cute little monster who loves strawberries, needs your help to walk through the woods and get from one point to another. Using coding tiles in front of the iPad, tell him how many steps to go, when to turn, and develop a path that will get him the most yummy fruit!

Wonder Workshop apps control two kinds of robots, both of which we have: Dot, a robot with light and sound capabilities, and Dash, which has all those capabilities as well as a head that turns and wheels that move.

Wonder:

This is the game I recommend kids start with if they are using Dash or Dot, our robots. It takes you through simple coding challenges in a videogame format, acquainting you with the robot’s capabilities and with basic programming skills.

Path:

This is another beginning coding option for younger kids, giving you the ability to draw a path for Dash to follow, and insert instructions for Dash to perform along the way, such as changing his lights or making sounds.

Blockly:

An advanced option for older kids, this app lets you practice coding in a similar way to Scratch by letting you assemble instructions for Dash or Dot in order. It gives you the widest range of choices for controlling their motions, sounds, and lights.

We will be featuring lots of other Osmo and Wonder Workshop apps and accessories which encourage various other skills like imagination, spatial reasoning, phonics and spelling, art, and science. We did this program before on April 11 and had a great turnout. If you'd like to see more of our pictures or get descriptions of the other apps we're going to use, visit http://pasadena-library.net/kids/2017/tablets-and-tech-for-kids-2/.

Saturday, May 27, 2017

On May 19, 2017, kids came to the Pasadena Public Library to make wind turbines that would generate electricity by turning the shaft of a hobby motor. We were inspired by a project we found at https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/light-wind. The goal was to use the motors in reverse--instead of the electricity making the shaft turn, the turning would make electricity! We hoped to produce enough energy to light an LED bulb attached to the motor.

It didn't work out that way, but we still made a great science lesson of it. I provided several different motors, but every time I tested them myself, I could not get the LED light bulb to come on. One kind of motor I got at Fry's was just too strong to turn in the wind. It probably would have needed blades several feet long and a floor fan wasn't going to produce enough wind. The other kind turned easily, but didn't generate quite enough voltage.

(One of the kids accurately noted: "Don't you need more energy to operate the fan than you are generating with the motor?" Yes, you do... But it's not like the real wind turbines capture ALL of the energy in the wind--they capture what they can!)

So we had to compromise. I got a digital multimeter at Fry's, and with it we were able to get a better look at what kind of electrical output we were getting. We made blades attached to popsicle sticks which our library building & maintenance guy drilled holes into to fit the motor shaft. We made the blades out of paper cups and shaped them to be curved to pick up the wind and also allow some wind to pass over them--this creates the movement you need to turn the shaft.

Check out the video!

According to the multimeter, we only got between .2 and .3 V, but I tested the project the day before and was getting .5V. Definitely not enough for a light bulb, but still something.

Kids still learned a lot about electricity, energy and wind power! Here are the slides with the science information I presented:

We'll have another hands-on science program at the library on August 8th at 4:30 pm. The subject is still to be determined. It has been advertised as "Make a Wind Generator" but it's going to be something else. You will be able to call 626-744-4066 option 4 to sign up.

Monday, November 21, 2016

On Nov. 18, 2016, to celebrate Young Readers League and its 2016 selection of Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley, we had a science program called "Be a Light Bender!" We had a jam-packed hour of activities exploring the physics of light and color. We did demonstrations of various phenomena, like the phosphors in a highlighter pen's ink getting excited by the ultraviolet light from a black light, and a demonstration of why the sunset looks red (the light has to travel farther through the atmosphere). We experimented with color filters and then used our knowledge to create secret messages for others to decode. We used CD spectroscopes to analyze various different light bulbs. We examined the way shadows change color when you shine colored lights on an object.
The resource I used the most for this program was Exploratorium's "Science Snacks" on the website http://exploratorium.edu/snacks. It's a great site! Tons of experiments and activities with clear explanations and free videos.
We didn't have time for the last experiment I planned, a demonstration of the inverse square law of light, but it is included in my slides. (Please note: when I upload my slides to slideshare a few of the fonts get distorted).

Monday, August 29, 2016

On Thursday, August 25th, while the rest of the library was closed early, kids and their parents were hanging out here in the children's Story Room learning about paleontology and center of gravity, and building their own dinosaurs!

I showed a slide show about how scientists' concepts of dinosaurs has changed over the years, particularly when we think about how a dinosaur would have stood or walked. Based on scientists' knowledge of anatomy and the weight of dinosaur bones, they've come to the conclusion that most dinosaurs had tails that stuck straight out, and provided balance while holding their heads and upper bodies in a forward (not upright!) position.

Then we took a wide variety of materials, including toilet paper tubes, cardboard, tape, plastic straws, pipe cleaners, and a few colorful and fun materials like feathers and googly eyes, and made dinosaurs that stood at least 6" tall with good balance.

Kids used counterweights and tried different design ideas to get their dinosaurs to stand stable. Sometimes they had to add weight to the head, or to the tail. Sometimes they had to make sturdier legs or hips. They put a lot of thought into their work, as I hope our video shows:

From our photos you see kids had a wide range of design ideas, all of which worked splendidly!

It's easy to start learning and applying science and engineering concepts with the awesome website CuriosityMachine.org. There are educational videos to teach the concepts behind each challenge, and all of the challenges are easy to do with materials you have around the house. Sign up and start creating!

Want to read more about dinosaurs? Check out these great books!

Feathered Dinosaurs by Thom & Laurie Holmes. Explores the connection between birds and dinosaurs, details the time and areas where these dinosaurs roamed, as well as what they ate and how they behaved, and discusses major related fossil discoveries.

Dinosaur by David Lambert (Eyewitness series). Discusses the environment in which dinosaurs lived, the characteristics of different types of dinosaurs, the disappearance of these creatures, and how scientists learn from their fossil remains.

Curious about Fossils by Kate Waters. Curious about Fossils explains why and where fossils form and looks at the colorful lives and important discoveries of some of the great early fossil hunters and collectors. Then the adventure continues into modern times, where scientists on fossil hunts in places like North Dakota's Hell Creek Formation use computers and other technology to dig up the fossilized bones, teeth, and even poop that provide clues to the past.

Collecting Fossils by Steve & Jane Parker. Presents information on how and where to find fossils, the preparation and tools needed for collecting them, and how to identify the various kinds: plant, invertebrate, and vertebrate.

Bizarre Dinosaurs by Christopher Sloan. Uses clear and informed text to tell readers what scientists know and what they are still guessing about a collection of odd-looking monsters, including how experts think these dinosaurs used their individual, bizarre characteristics.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

On Saturday, we had our library preschool storytime. I've been wanting to get out there and see the planets lined up in the pre-dawn sky, but I haven't been able to get myself up early enough. So I found another way to enjoy this phenomenon, and shared it with the preschoolers and their families at storytime.

Using one of the library's iPads, we turned the storyroom into a preschool planetarium! We have an app called SkyView which allows you to see the locations and images of stars, planets, galaxies, satellites and other celestial objects surrounding the Earth by simply pointing the iPad in any direction.

Why I decided to do this was so that the kids could see something that's probably very hard for them to see, and something they won't get another chance to witness for at least ten years! Currently, and for only a very limited time, all five visible planets are in the same part of our sky, and can be seen with the naked eye just before dawn. But since very few of us are actually up that early, especially preschoolers who need their sleep, I found another way to show them just how close the planets are to each other right now.

The kids each got to take the iPad, one by one, as I guided them from Jupiter to Mars to Saturn to Venus and Mercury. They saw how the planets all line up in the southeast part of the sky. They had a lot of fun with this! I love how iPads can give you an interesting hands-on way to learn about the universe.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Everybody knows magnets are FUN, but did you know scientists use magnets when making certain kinds of polymers? Did you know that magnets can help chemists to sort out the tangled mess of molecules that most polymers consist of?

Today's Curiosity Machine class focused on Making a Self-Assembling Structure using magnets, but the class wasn't just about magnets. One kind of self-assembling structure is a polymer, a long chain of repeating molecules that bind to create one super-strong molecule. We learned about polymers and a bit about atomic structure, then we turned our attention to magnets and to making our own structures that would link together using magnetic force.

Friday, August 14, 2015

Today we made videogames using Scratch, based on the infamous "Flappy Bird" videogame that brought its creators notoriety and established them in the halls of memorable bad game design forever :)

We followed a tutorial I created and chose new sprites for our flappy character--many kids chose airplanes, fish, or other animals, and a few chose bats. The end code looks something like this (this is just the code for the bat that flies through the pipes):

The final product is supposed to work like this (click on the picture and you'll be taken to the game which you can play):

The kids did a great job. Even one child who was not really very experienced with Scratch turned out to be quite sharp and able to follow all the difficult instructions. Despite having a lot of technical difficulties, almost everyone was able to go home with a finished game emailed to them, and a lot more knowledge about some of the more advanced, nuanced aspects of Scratch--like setting variables (the "physics" of your game) and creating a platform game with objects that scroll. Kids had to think about setting a numerical value for the gravity that would pull their bat constantly toward the "ground," and then another variable that would counteract gravity--"lift"--every time a user pressed a key to flap the bat's wings. There is really a lot of science and math thinking that goes into programming a video game. I think everybody learned a lot!

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Monday's hands-on science program, "The Science Behind Recording Music," challenged tweens to come up with several iterations of a gramophone that could play the sound stored on a vinyl record with only their hands to power it.

First, tweens learned about the history of sound recording and its great inventors, from Leon Scott to Alexander Graham Bell, to Edison to Berliner. I engaged the kids in some fun questions to test their critical thinking skills, like: "How many grooves are on each side of a record?" and "How many times a second would a record turn if it's turning at 33 1/3 revolutions per minute?"

And here is the video I created to give them a sample of what they would be doing:

Then we started spinning records of our own. We made a gramophone out of a tin can, aluminum foil, and a pin, and lowered the pointy end of the pin onto the record while we spun it to see if we could hear sound. Our records we spun by sticking thick rounded pencils through the holes in the center. With the pin scratching the groove, it should pick up the vibrations from the groove of the record and transfer those vibrations to a diaphragm (the tinfoil) and then amplify them (with the cylinder).

We tried latex instead of tinfoil, and funnels instead of cans, and finally a simple paper cone (which was the lightest version and therefore the most effective!). Kids had to write down observations and notes about how each machine worked and rate its effectiveness in loudness and clarity.

I have to give a lot of credit to the person at Science Buddies who came up with this project idea on which I based a lot of my program, especially the observation sheet!
Here are some of my photos from the program:

I took tons of videos of the kids playing their records. Here's the mashup I made out of them:
If you do this as a project with your kids or students, let me know how it goes!

About Me

I am passionate about youth programming in the library. I do a special reading program, called Lucha Libros, for kids in 2nd and 3rd grade. I hold creative writing workshops for kids of all ages. I host science and technology programs for tweens and teens. I select children's books and DVDs for the library in English and Spanish. I want kids to develop identities as writers who read and readers who write.